The Safe NYU app that students and staff have to download at NYU Abu Dhabi.
The Safe NYU app that students and staff have to download at NYU Abu Dhabi.
The Safe NYU app that students and staff have to download at NYU Abu Dhabi.
The Safe NYU app that students and staff have to download at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Coronavirus: NYU Abu Dhabi brings in daily health check app to access campus


Patrick Ryan
  • English
  • Arabic

Students and staff at New York University Abu Dhabi must download a health checker app and complete a series of questions before being allowed access to campus each day.

The app is part of measures that were introduced to curb the spread of Covid-19, which also include various social distancing measures.

All staff and students have to undergo tests for Covid-19 once every fortnight.

“Everyone has to abide by social distancing of two metres, wear a mask and do the daily symptom checker and security will then take your temperature,” said Arlie Petters, provost at NYU.

“We all have to go through that when we enter campus.”

The university currently has 1,650 students, with close to 700 of them being on campus and the remainder learning remotely.

The app which is called Safe NYU was originally created by NYU in the US.

Once the set of questions has been successfully completed the student will receive a green screen, indicating they have passed the test and can enter.

If they do not meet the requirements the screen will be red, meaning they have failed the test and entry is forbidden.

All students, staff and faculty members that pass the daily test are expected to ensure they stay two metres apart at all times, avoid handshakes and non-essential gatherings of any description.

The university advises those living on campus to check their temperature in their homes each day.

External visitors are currently not allowed to enter campus.

Each student had to sign an agreement they were committed to NYU Abu Dhabi’s safety procedures before being allowed to return to campus.

“If someone is not complying with our safety and health protocols, we encourage you to gently and calmly urge them to act properly — wearing a face mask, maintaining physical distance, and complying with testing and quarantine procedures," the university said on its website.

“This will help ensure the wellbeing of your friends, your peers, your teachers, your students, and your colleagues and to ensure compliance with NYUAD and UAE regulations.”

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”